3. Serious Sexual Assault

3.1Summary of findings

Overall, 2.7% of respondents had experienced at least one
form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 (this
proportion has not changed over the last six sweeps of the
SCJS), and
0.9% had experienced more than one form of serious sexual
assault.

A higher proportion of women than men had experienced at
least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16, at
4.6% and 0.6% respectively.

More than half of respondents (52.8%) said that they had
experienced their first (or only) incident of serious sexual
assault between the ages of 16 and 20.

Serious sexual assault was most commonly carried out by
someone known to the victim. Almost nine-in-ten (87.4%) of those
who had experienced at least one form of serious sexual assault
since the age of 16 knew the offender in some way, whilst over
half (54.8%) said that the offender was their partner.

Men perpetuated the majority of serious sexual assaults:
94.0% of those who had experienced serious sexual assault since
the age of 16 said the offender was male. This proportion was
higher for female victims than male victims, at 98.0% and 63.6%
respectively.

Of those who had experienced forced sexual intercourse since
the age of 16, 16.8% said the police were informed about the most
recent incident.

The most common reason for not reporting the most recent of
serious sexual assault to the police was fear that it would make
matters worse (43.4%).

3.2Introduction

The
SCJS
survey asks respondents if they have experienced one or more of the
following types of serious sexual assault:

Forced to have sexual intercourse

Attempted forced sexual intercourse

Forced to take part in another sexual activity (for example,
oral sex)

Attempted forced to take part in another sexual activity

Respondents are asked about their experiences over two
time-periods: within the last 12 months and since the age of
16.

This chapter mostly focuses on respondents who reported at least
one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 (
n = 332), as the lower base number of respondents who
experienced serious sexual assault in the last 12 months (
n = 23) prevents more detailed analysis.

This chapter examines the overall and varying risk of serious
sexual assault; the incidence of serious sexual assault;
victim-offender relationships; the gender of the offender; the
physical impact on victims; and reporting to the police.

3.3Overall risk of serious sexual assault

In the 2014/15 survey, 2.7% of respondents had experienced at
least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16, and
0.9% had experienced more than one form.

3.3.1 Trends in serious sexual assault

The risk of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 did not
change between 2008/9 and 2014/15, or between the last two sweeps
of the survey. The small differences shown in
Table 3.1 are not statistically significant.

Table 3.1 Overall risk of serious sexual assault since the
age of 16 (%)

Sexual victimisation, as reported in the
SCJS,
is not directly comparable with police recorded crime. This is
because limited follow-up questions are asked about these incidents
(in order to avoid possible distress to the respondent), which
prevents the accurate legal classification of incidents.

Despite these limitations, patterns of police recorded serious
sexual assault are generally less consistent than patterns of
serious sexual assault as reported in the
SCJS.

This difference between the two sources of data is most likely
due to changes in reporting behaviour, and a greater willingness to
report sexual assault. For example,
Figure 3.1 shows that police recorded incidents of rape and attempted
rape increased by 97% between 2008/09 and 2014/15, from 963 to
1,901 incidents.

Table 3.2 Varying risk of serious sexual assault since age
of serious sexual assault since age of 16, by social
characteristics (%)

Social characteristics

% adults

Base

Gender

Male

0.6%

4,528

Female

4.6%

5,458

Age-group

16-24

1.9%

836

25-34

3.2%

1,421

35-44

3.6%

1,596

45-54

4.2%

1,794

55-64

2.2%

1,697

65 and over

1.3%

2,642

Victim status in the main
questionnaire
1

Victim

5.3%

1,398

Non-victim

2.2%

8,588

Socio-economic Deprivation*

15% most deprived

3.8%

1,412

Rest of Scotland

2.5%

8,574

All adults

2.7%

9,986

Base: All respondents
Variable names: SA_ANY_EV (by) QDGEN, QDAGE, VICFLAG3
1 A victim is defined as a respondent who reported
crimes or offences in the main questionnaire (excluding sexual
offences and threats) that are within the scope of the survey, took
place in Scotland, and occurred within the reference period.

3.4.1 Gender and serious sexual assault

Looking at those who experienced at least one type of serious
sexual assault since the age of 16, 88.6% were female, and 11.4%
were male.

Serious sexual offending, as reported in the
SCJS,
was almost exclusively carried out by men. Of those who had
experienced serious sexual assault since the age of 16 (both women
and men), 94.1% said the offender(s) was male. This proportion was
higher amongst female victims (98.0%), compared to male victims
(63.6%).

Box 3.1 below explores public attitudes towards
violence against women, as measured by the Scottish Social
Attitudes survey 2014.

The
SSA
findings on sexual violence show that the majority of people
thought that rape by a stranger (95%) and within a marriage
(93%) were 'seriously wrong'. Fewer people felt that a
husband raping his wife was 'very seriously wrong' (74%) than
believed that a man raping a stranger was 'very seriously
wrong' (88%). People were also less likely to say that the
husband raping his wife caused the victim 'a great deal' of
harm, compared to the harm caused when the rape was
perpetrated by a stranger.

There were some demographic differences in attitudes
towards sexual violence. Women, younger people, those who had
experienced some form of gender-based violence and those who
did not hold stereotypical views on gender roles were all
more likely to think that the husband raping his wife was
'very seriously wrong'.

When respondents were asked about a scenario where the
woman had first taken the man into her bedroom and started
kissing him, fewer people felt that the man's behaviour was
seriously wrong. The proportion viewing the rape by a
stranger as 'very seriously wrong' fell from 88% to 58%, and
in the case of the husband's behaviour, from 74% to 44%.

There was evidence to suggest people believe that in
certain situations woman are partly to blame if they are
raped. Only 58% said that a woman who wore revealing clothing
on a night out was 'not at all to blame' for being raped, and
60% said the same of a woman who was very drunk. Around a
quarter (23%) agreed that 'women often lie about being raped'
and nearly 2 in 5 (37%) agreed that 'rape results from men
being unable to control their need for sex'.

3.4.2 Age and serious sexual assault

Respondents were asked at what age the first (or only) incident
of serious sexual assault took place.
Figure 3.2 shows that the majority of first (or only) reported incidents
(52.8%) took place between the ages of 16 to 20.

Figure 3.2 Age at time of first (or only) incident of
serious sexual assault, by age-group (%)

The risk of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 varied by
neighbourhood deprivation: 3.8% of those living in the 15% most
deprived areas of Scotland reported abuse since age of 16, compared
to 2.5% of those living in the rest of Scotland.

Available income

The risk of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 was also
associated with available income. Respondents were asked how easy
it would be for the household to find £100 to meet an
unexpected expense. Unlike neighbourhood measures of deprivation,
this question addresses the issue of immediate access to funds.

The risk of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 was
higher amongst those who stated that it would be 'a big problem' or
'impossible' to find £100 to meet an unexpected expense,
compared to those who stated it would be 'no problem', at 7.4% and
2.0% respectively.

3.5Incidence of serious sexual assault and repeat
victimisation

Victims of serious sexual assault were likely to report more
than one incident. For example, 57.8% of those respondents who had
experienced forced, and 67.6% attempted forced sexual intercourse,
since the age of 16 said that they had experienced more than one
incident. Within these groups, 18.3% of those who had experienced
forced sex and 19.8% of those who had experienced attempted forced
sex said that there were too many incidents to count.

Table 3.3 shows the incidence of serious sexual assault since the age of
16 in the four types of serious sexual assault.

Table 3.3 Incidence of serious sexual assault since the age
of 16 (%)

SCJS
2014/15

Number of incidents

Forced sex

Attempted forced intercourse

Other forced sexual acts

Other forced attempted sexual acts

One

37.9%

23.1%

18.1%

22.6%

More than one

57.8%

67.6%

81.9%

77.4%

Two

10.0%

10.4%

9.6%

9.5%

Three

10.3%

13.8%

5.2%

9.7%

Four

7.0%

8.8%

4.4%

1.2%

Five

2.0%

2.9%

-

4.9%

Six to ten

3.0%

3.5%

25.0%

23.2%

Eleven and over

7.2%

8.4%

37.7%

29.0%

Too many to count

18.3%

19.8%

-

-

Base

198

155

83

96

'Don't know/can't remember' and 'don't wish to answer' responses
are not shown.
Base: Adults who had experienced each form of serious sexual
assault since the age of 16
Variable names: FS_2EVER AFS_2EVER OS_2EVER AOS_2EVER

3.6Relationship with the offender/s

The majority of serious sexual assaults were carried out by
someone known to the victim. Nearly nine out of ten (87.4%) of
those who had experienced at least one form of serious sexual
assault since age sixteen knew the offender in some way, with over
half (54.8%) saying that the offender was their partner. These
findings are consistent with 2013/14 Police Scotland data, which
show that a third of reported rapes took place in a domestic
setting (
Police
Scotland, 19/6/2014).

Amongst those who had reported more than one form of serious
sexual assault since the age of 16, 95.2% said that they knew the
offender in some way, whilst more than three quarters (76.8%) said
the offender was their partner.

Figure 3.3 shows victim-offender relationships for those who reported at
least one, and more than one form of serious sexual assault
experienced since the age of 16.

Figure 3.3 Victim-offender/s relationships: at least one,
and more than one form of serious sexual assault experienced since
the age 16 (%)

Results show responses for four types of serious sexual assault.
Respondents may have answered in more than one category. 'Knew the
offender in some way' includes responses shown in the figure.
Base: Adults who had experienced serious sexual assault
since the age 16 (323)
Variable names: FS_3B4, FS_3 , AFS_3B4, AFS_3, OS_3B4, OS_3,
AOS_3B4 , AOS_3

3.6.1 Serious sexual assault and strangers

Of those who had experienced at least one form of serious sexual
assault since the age of 16, 8.0% had never seen the offender
before. Again, these findings are consistent with 2013/14 Police
Scotland data, which show that five per cent of reported rapes were
committed by someone unknown to the victim (
Police
Scotland, 19/6/2014).

These findings contrast with the other types of sexual
victimisation discussed in the report. For example, indecent
exposure and unwanted touching (since the age of 16) was more
likely to be perpetuated by someone that victim had not seen
before, at 70.9% and 39.90% respectively (see
Section 4.4). Also nearly a third of those who had experienced stalking
and harassment in the last 12 months, said that they had not seen
the offender before (see
Section 2.4).

3.7The physical impact of serious sexual assault

Respondents who had reported at least one incident of serious
sexual assault, since the age of 16, were asked about the physical
impact of the latest (or only) incident.
Figure 3.4 shows the physical impact of serious sexual assault, broken
down by category of assault.

Of those who had experienced forced sexual intercourse, nearly
two-thirds (61.8%) said that the last (or only) incident had
resulted in some form of physical injury, either minor or serious,
while 4.3% said that the last (or only) incident had resulted in
pregnancy.

Respondents who had experienced serious sexual assault since the
age of 16 were asked if the police were informed about the most
recent (or only) incident.

Figure 3.4 shows reporting rates for the four types of serious sexual
assault (see
section 2.8 for reporting rates for other types of
SCJS
crime). Note that the apparent variation in reporting rates between
categories shown in
Figure 3.4 is not statistically significant.

Figure 3.4 Proportion who said the police were informed
about the last (or only) incident of serious sexual assault since
age 16 (%)

Figure 3.5 below shows the reasons why the police did not come to know
about the most recent (or only) incident of forced and attempted
forced sexual intercourse since the age 16 respectively (these are
the two largest categories of serious sexual assault).

For both types of assault (forced and attempted forced
intercourse) the most common reason for not informing the police
was fear, at 43.4% and 32.6% respectively. Around a quarter said
that they had not reported the most recent (or only) incident
because it was a private or personal matter, at 26.0% and 26.4%
respectively.

Note that these findings contrast with respondents reasons for
not reporting stalking and harassment to the police. For example,
Figure 2.5 shows that only 3.7% of those who had not reported the most
recent incident of stalking or harassment to the police said that
the reason was fear that it might make things worse.

Figure 3.5. Reasons the police did not come to know about
most recent (or only) incident of serious sexual assault (all
types) since the age 16 (%)

Base: Adults who experienced forced sexual assault (154) and
attempted forced sexual intercourse (125) since the age of 16,
where the police did not come to know about the most recent/only
incident.
Variable names: FS_7i AFS_7i